11. Host Simultaneous Neighborhood Block Parties Across the City

Best. Block Party. Ever. I’m picturing every South Bend neighborhood, from Lincoln Park to Marquette to Sunnymeade to the Triangle, hosting cook-outs and meet-n-greets to celebrate community. Juggling schedules with my family means that despite being actively involved, we can’t make it to many of the big events held here. But a neighborhood block party meets us where we are. As we mentioned yesterday, neighborhoods are the lifeblood of cities. They foster day-to-day interaction and with that, much deeper personal relationships than what typically happens across cities. So, if you want to create vitality in a city, let’s create a mechanism to better support block parties. If you want to create attachment, foster community at all scales.

Marquette Park hosts a 4th of July parade every year (as many neighborhoods do). While it’s brief, we meet with our local fire station, kids ride bikes and explore the fire trucks, we have a parade, and we all stand around the breakfast potluck in my front yard. It’s hard to express how incredible the experience is. Even our local council member shows up.